


Buddleja

by purglepurglepurgle



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: #i always feel like somebody's watching me and i have no privacy oooooooh, #this is why i'm not allowed to make up custom tags, Angst, F/M, Gen, Plants, cactusverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-09-01 00:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20248963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purglepurglepurgle/pseuds/purglepurglepurgle
Summary: Very short companion piece to 'Cactus', because it was on my mind (though both fics can stand alone). Set partway through that fic. Aeris and Zack on a date.





	Buddleja

"And that one is buddleja." Aeris pointed at the sprawling, purple plant, that poked out of an abandoned train carriage. "It's my favourite."

"How come?" said Zack. It seemed like a simple question, but people never asked her questions like that. She liked that he asked. And she liked that he'd suggested a date in the train graveyard, rather than in some 'nice' cafe, with gingham and doilies. And she _especially_ liked that he had kept his mouth shut when she'd told her mother they were going to such a cafe. If Tseng came calling, Elmyra would relay that to him, and _that_ meant...

"It's the perfect plant!" She moved closer to Zack. She could feel the heat from his arms, inches from her own. "It's pretty-- the flowers, but it's more than that. See how it's coming up through the railway tracks? It grows _everywhere_. It leaves seeds in the cement between bricks, and a few months later, hah! It shows the buildings who's boss." She smiled. Her cheeks felt hot. She was close enough to see the tiny brown hairs on the backs of his arms, watch them rise, quiver. "And, we're not close enough to tell, not here, but it smells amazing. Like honey." Very gently, she reached for his hand. "It's the most beautiful scent. It draws wildlife from miles around. That's why they call it butterfly bush--"

"Oh, how darling." Tseng stepped out of the shadows. "Stay where I can see you, Ancient. I don't get paid extra to track you down when you play hide and seek."

"I'm on a _date_!" Aeris flinched away from Zack as though she'd been zapped with a bolt spell. How had he found her? As her anger sparked, she felt the concerned swell of voices from the planet, which only made it worse. She didn't want them to _care_, she wanted them to _leave her alone_.

Zack frowned at Tseng. "We're both Shinra, right? No need to worry about me."

"I have my orders." Tseng gave a slight shrug and leaned against a train carriage. "Carry on as though I'm not here."

"You've _ruined_ it!" Aeris felt tears prickle. The voices were loud, now, almost drowning out the spoken conversation.

"Come on," said Zack to her, softly, angling his body so that he stood between her and Tseng, so that she couldn't _see_ Tseng. "Butterfly bush, right?"

"Yeah..." But it was no use. She'd been going to say that she'd never seen a real, living butterfly, only pictures, and once, a taxidermed specimen in-- but then, she couldn't talk about Hojo's lab, even if it were just her and Zack and nobody else in the world. And she couldn't talk about _anything_ in front of _Tseng_. And there were so many voices...

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"You get these massive butterflies, where I'm from, out in the country," said Zack, a bit too casually. "Red-orange things, the size of your head, easy. We roast 'em."

"Really?" said Aeris, drawn in despite herself. The voices faded, as they always did when she was successfully distracted.

Zack grinned and winked.

"Ooooh, you're so mean!" She elbowed him, he creased up laughing, and for a moment it was okay again. Normal people on a normal date. Then she smelled the smoke of a newly-lit cigarette, and she felt the dull pressure of the planet, chattering and cheering her on and judging, always judging, and as Zack leaned on her shoulder, still shaking with laughter, she saw Tseng, _watching_, red embers at his lips.

"Can we just go back?" she said. "He won't follow us into the _house_." She looked pointedly at Tseng.

"Eh..." Zack didn't look keen; he straightened up, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, if you want, sure, but... your mom..."

"For what it's worth," said Tseng, "I suspect I'm the more lenient chaperone."

Aeris bent, scooped up a handful of slum-dirt, and hurled it at him. It barely left a mark on his suit. But then she knew that, even if he died tomorrow, nothing would change. When it came to surveillance, Tseng took breaks; the dead did not.


End file.
